How DCFS failed these kids

A Tribune review of child death cases with prior agency involvement found state and contractual workers who made serious errors, broke rules and falsified notes

September 22, 2012|By Christy Gutowski, Chicago Tribune reporter

Angel Hill, 2 years old, of Chicago, died of child abuse October 2010. Her mother and mother's boyfriend are charged with first-degree murder. (Chicago Tribune)

The children often died in obscurity without an obituary or headstone — their family histories darkened by poverty, mental illness, violence and drugs.

They had something else in common, too. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services had been warned about possible abuse and neglect, but the staff assigned to protect them ultimately failed, according to state officials and records obtained by the Tribune.

More than 200 children with prior DCFS involvement were slain from 2000 through 2011, records show, but the facts rarely were made public, largely because of confidentiality laws.

The DCFS Office of Inspector General investigates such deaths, but its annual report does not include names or hometowns. Trying to put faces on some of these children — and tell their stories — the Tribune compared the death summaries contained in the most recent report against police, court, prison and medical examiner records. Confidential DCFS and hospital documents also were obtained.

"DCFS tries to explain these (failures) by isolating the problem to an individual worker instead of looking at the bigger picture," Cook County Public Guardian Robert Harris said. "But, if your caseloads are too high, and you have poorly trained workers dealing with extremely complex cases and issues, that's a systemic failing."

DCFS officials have moved to try to reduce caseloads, close overdue investigations and unclog the state's child abuse hotline — shortcomings reported by the Tribune in recent months. Every death, they say, is troubling, and if worker error is to blame, appropriate discipline is pursued.

The most recent published data on abuse-related fatalities of DCFS-involved children show Illinois has a slightly higher rate than other states. DCFS Director Richard Calica said the best the agency can do is ensure its staff is well-trained and following uniform standards.

"In my field, we have no crystal balls," Calica said. "Being able to predict the future probability that a particular individual is going to harm a child is almost nonexistent. Taking a kid away from a family can be as harmful as leaving them there. It's a judgment that's almost impossible to make, and they have to make it really quickly with limited information.

"The deaths disturb me, but there's nothing I've been able to put my hands on and say, 'I'm going to fix it.'"

Advocates argue that only increased public scrutiny of such cases will bring meaningful reforms to an agency struggling with severe budget cuts and hundreds of employees facing layoffs. The confidentiality, they say, prevents accountability.

Detailing the circumstances behind such deaths is crucial, said Theresa Covington, director of the National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child Deaths, a Michigan-based nonprofit group.

"I do believe agencies sometimes try to hide behind these laws that place confidentiality above the welfare of children and prevent public scrutiny that can lead to system reforms," she said.

The stories of eight children who deserved better follow. What happened to them has not been publicly reported until now.

Adonis Bright

17 months, Chicago. Died June 27, 2011

Despite the turmoil in his life, Adonis could still flash a smile and let out an infectious laugh.

Records raise questions about what signs of trouble DCFS and a contractual private agency might have missed. The child was the subject of two hotline calls determined to be unfounded despite repeated hospital visits and suspicious bruises, documents reviewed by the Tribune show.

The boy's mother, Jacqueline Bright, was 17 and a state ward with a long history of mental illness when he was born in January 2010, the inspector general's report said.

Seven months after Adonis' birth,DCFS investigated a hotline call that the baby was at a hospital with a broken leg, his second ER visit in weeks.

Bright's boyfriend, Tinnell Smith, said he fell on the infant while they played, an explanation that officials said could not be ruled out. The DCFS investigator closed the case without finding credible evidence of abuse, the records state.

But because Bright was pregnant again, DCFS initiated a safety plan in which the boy stayed with her adult cousin. Documents indicate the caseworker with One Hope United, a nonprofit human services agency providing DCFS intact family services, checked on Adonis weekly.

The boy thrived during the four months with the cousin, the caseworker's notes state. After giving birth, Bright regained custody and moved back in with Smith, records show.

Within months, Adonis lost weight and suffered unexplained stomach ailments and other illnesses. By late April 2011, Bright took her son to the hospital at least twice.